Thursday, October 11, 2012

Another Albino?

A couple of nights ago I came upon an albino slug which differed from the one I had previously photographed. It appeared smaller (though it might have contracted its body due to the cold weather) and its tail did not taper to a point as the other albino's did. Now, I already suspect that there may be more than one slug species inhabiting our yard. Could this slug perhaps be an albino form of the species Deroceras laeve (marsh/meadow/brown slug) or Deroceras reticulatum (gray field slug, milky slug)? Unfortunately, as I've said before, the only certain way to distinguish any species is through dissection and examination of the genitalia.

At the same time, while albinos are not that rare among slug species, I wouldn't expect there to be two of the same species in the same small area. Even two from different species in such a small environment would surprise me. That leads me to surmise that this IS the same albino, with its body contracted against the cold and the tip of its tail inadvertently pushed inward.


Here's a photo I took of the albino in the same place in the yard as in my last post about it. The identity of the species remains a mystery, though at the moment I still hold that it's Lehmannia valentiana.


You see in the photo above that it's body is contracted, and yet it appears even smaller in these most recent photos:


However, I think I was able to get closer to the slug in the earlier photos (continued below), which may make it appear larger. You can see in these that the albino's size matches that of the pigmented slug (Lehmannia valentiana) behind it. A slug of Deroceras laeve, for instance, would be smaller than Lehmannia valentiana.

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